Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is the Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford. His research focuses on the role of information in a networked economy. Earlier he spent ten years on the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

He has published eleven books, including the international bestseller “Big Data” (HMH, co-authored with Kenneth Cukier, translated into more than 20 languages), “Learning with Big Data” (HMH, co-authored with Kenneth Cukier) and the awards-winning “Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age” with Princeton University Press (also available in multiple languages). He is the author of over a hundred articles and book chapters on the economics and governance of information.

After successes in the International Physics Olympics and the Austrian Young Programmers Contest, Mayer-Schönberger studied in Salzburg, Harvard and at the London School of Economics. In 1986 he founded Ikarus Software, a company focusing on data security and developed the Virus Utilities, which became the best-selling Austrian software product. He was voted Top-5 Software Entrepreneur in Austria in 1991 and Person of the Year for the State of Salzburg in 2000. He has chaired the Rueschlikon Conference on Information Policy in the New Economy, bringing together leading strategists and decision-makers of the new economy. In 2014 he received a World Technology Award in the law category for his work.

He is a frequent public speaker, and sought expert for print and broadcast media worldwide. He and his work have been featured in (among others) New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, Nature, Science, NPR, BBC, The Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, WIRED, Ars Technica, and Daily Kos. He is also on the boards of foundations, think tanks and organizations focused on studying the information economy, and advises governments, businesses and NGOs on new economy and information society issues.

In his spare time, he likes to travel, go to the movies, and learn about architecture.

Areas of Interest for Doctoral Supervision

Big data, digital economy, governance of data

Research interests

Big Data, digital economy, institutions and governance in the data age

Introducing the challenges and limitations of conventional legal institutions on the Internet (especially those administered by the State) and reinterpreting these institutions in the context of the Internet.

Digital technology empowers us to find and share information as never before, but we do not always foresee the consequences of these new powers. Can the dangers of everlasting digital memory be avoided? Can we reintroduce our capacity to forget?

Now is the time to augment and improve the Privacy Principles drawn up by the OECD over 30 years ago to ensure their relevance in the age of Big Data. A new report by Professor Mayer-Schönberger and colleagues signposts five priorities.

Tim Wu speaks to John Lloyd and Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger about information technology history, sharing his unique insight into the next chapter of global communication as he launches his new book 'The Master Switch' in the UK.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger will discuss his recent book, 'Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age', which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, revealing why we must reintroduce our ability to forget.

What are the emerging threats to the security of networks and personal computers and how can they be addressed through social as well as technical initiatives? What role should law enforcement, government and business play in improving cybersecurity?

In a few decades, AI will outstrip many of the abilities we believe make us special. This is a grand challenge for our age, argues researcher Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, and it may require an ‘irrational’ response.

In the wake of European Court of Justice ruling on the 'safe harbor' agreement relating to the transfer of personal data between Europe and the US, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on the meaning of data-protection.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is quoted in an article about censorship and control of the internet. He says there never was a global commons of the internet and, in reality, vacuums of power on the internet have always existed.

An article discussing the ruling of the ECJ requiring Google to take down some links refers to Viktor Mayer-Schönberger as the 'godfather of the right to be forgotten' and quotes his suggestions for dealing with outdated online content.

A German court has ordered a man to delete intimate pictures of his ex-partner even without any intention to publish. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger says this decision is not about a 'right to forget' but more the 'right for one's own image'.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger suggests that the recent EU ruling allowing citizens to request Google remove links to their name is only likely to result in a few dozen more removals than are already made for copyright reasons.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger points out to the Financial Times that the recent ruling of the European Court of Justice did not grant carte-blanche powers to individuals to demand Google redact information about them.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger says that the recent European Court of Justice ruling only re-confirms the rights already granted 20 years ago by the European Directive on Data Protection and Privacy (19.20 on clock)

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger raises the possibility that in the future a few large data holders could control the raw material that fuels and promotes innovation and growth. His suggestion is that government should make its data troves accessible.

Quartz online news source prints an excerpt from 'Learning with Big Data: The Future of Education' by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier. The article highlights the hazards of permanently retained data.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is interviewed about the potential applications of the phenomenon of big data. Professor Mayer-Schönberger is the author of "Big Data: A revolution that will change how we live, work and think"

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger expressed concerns to the THES that as more detailed 'big data' sets are available to colleges and universities, students will face a 'dystopian future' where their ability to choose their courses could be constrained.

Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, the bestselling book by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier has been shortlisted for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year.

Review of Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, and Kenneth Cukier, data editor of The Economist, which is described as ‘illuminating and very timely’.

As the extent of the NSA’s data-collecting exercise is revealed the question, according to Time Magazine, is how to use the data to help keep the country safe. This is a Big Data challenge says Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.

Themes in Viktor Mayer-Schönberger’s book ‘Delete, the Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age’ are discussed in the context of how we address environmental problems. The writer suggests we have traded our innocence for the oppression of information.

Big companies whose trade has been built on trust risk serious consequences as a result of the NSA leaks row. Viktor Mayer-Schöberger comments that once trust is violated it is very difficult to re-stablish.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier use the story of former Secretary of Defence, Robert McNamara, a man who believed Truth lay in data, to illustrate the dangers of over-reliance on numbers in big data analysis.

The Sydney Morning Herald highlights Viktor Mayer-Schönberger’s work on forgetting in a digital age. lso refers to proposed EU legislation on the retention of data sometimes called 'the Right to be Forgotten'.

Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, authority on forgetting in a digital age, tells Radio 4 that if we don’t have the right to be forgotten, others might take control of online records of our digital past. (c 17.00 on clock)

A US woman is taking a class action against media whose reports of her arrest appear online despite a local law which allowed her to expunge the official record. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on tricky questions of online data retention.

Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, authors of the new book Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, published last month, answered several questions on big data, foreign policy, and China.

An exploration of the issues surrounding the 'right to be forgotten' quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger as saying that the "the beauty of the human brain is that we forget which enables us to think in the present."

Article suggests that the writing of Cory Doctorow and other Science Fiction authors could help us shape future technology for liberation, not oppression, and refers to Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier talked to thought leaders in the data industry in Seattle before meeting the public in the Town Hall to talk about their bestseller,'Big Data: A revolution that will transform how we live, work and think'.

Evgeny Morozov reviews Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data. He says that "no other book offers such an accessible and balanced tour of the many benefits and downsides of our continuing infatuation with data."

Vast troves of information are manipulated and monetized, yet companies have a hard time assigning value to it. The authors of Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think look at the implications of Big Data for business.

The facts and arguments column in The Globe and Mail quotes the prediction in Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data that data-driven decisions are poised to augment or overrule human argument.

In an interview with the authors of Big Data, Gil Press says that the book is an excellent introduction for a general audience to this hot topic of conversation and provides a launch pad for a much-needed conversation about Big Data.

Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, authority on forgetting in a digital age, tells Radio 4 that if we don’t have the right to be forgotten, others might take control of online records of our digital past. (c 17.00 on clock)

In an interview about digital copyright, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger says ‘no author lives in a vacuum’. Current copyright regulation is outdated and unworkable, he warns, and without change, rules will be ignored and society will act as it sees fit.

'We need to appreciate and preserve forgetting as a feature of humanity' says Viktor Mayer -Schönberger in an article in the Washington Post arguing that forgetting allows us to grow, learn and forgive – and enjoy rancour- free family events.

Germany’s former first lady is suing Google after searches for her name reinforced rumours about her private life. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is interviewed by Zeit online on why the concept of neutral search results is a fiction.

Max Mosley is suing Google in an attempt to get intimate pictures of him, removed from the site. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, authority on forgetting in a digital age was asked for an expert opinion. Filters can and should be installed he says.

A report on rising numbers of Asian graduates refers to the OII Geographies of the World's knowledge maps and quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger saying that the distinct geography of the information age will be about universities and innovation.

The BBC features an OII map demonstrating continuing Western cultural dominance in an article on the rapid increase in graduates from China and India. Victor Mayer-Schönberger discusses the knowledge imbalance.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger's ground-breaking work on forgetting and remembering in the digital age is informing policy-making at international level. His speech at the European Parliament hearing on data protection regulation is available on video.

Trevor Pinch of Cornell University and Mark Lane of RFI discuss the themes and implications of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger's book Delete on the station's "Webwatch" feature. They agree they're glad some aspects of their own lives went unrecorded.

The ability of the OII interactive iBook to reach a global audience challenges how academic knowledge should be shared says Viktor Mayer-Schönberger. It could mean universities having a bigger reach with learners outside the university than in it.

"Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, is a big fan of black-hole resorts which he sees as increasingly important in escaping the "useless simplistic drivel" of much modern technological life."

"Is the quest for profound memory enhancement an unalloyed blessing or Faustian bargain? Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, leans toward the latter (...)".

Facebook is embarking on a social mission according to Mark Zuckerberg, bringing its users closer together and making the world more open and connected. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on possible futures for the company as its stock goes on sale.

The Atlantic magazine muses on the ethics of twitter impersonation in the light of online high-profile celebrity impersonation. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments that we're in a Foucauldian post-modern world where we can't tell truth from fakery.

The EU is proposing sweeping privacy regulation to standardise regulations across the Union including a right to remove online personal data. Attitudes in the USA and Europe differ, one reason being history. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is quoted.

In the light of the proposed major reforms of EU data-protection the Economist's Babbage technology blog looks at the plans to give Europeans the 'right to be forgotten', quoting Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.

The EU is planning tougher data protection rules including the "right to forget". Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, who argued for similar measures in his book "Delete" says he's not surprised by the discussions surrounding the proposal.

Oliver Burkman asks if 'with all the focus on improving memory, are we in danger of forgetting the art of forgetting'. He quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger who argues that society is getting worse at forgetting thanks to the web.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is quoted by Nick Bilton (New York Times "Bits" Blog) in support of his view that there are good reasons to sometimes just enjoy a moment without the need to use technology to capture, record and share it.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The latest of many recent attempts to defend property rights on the Internet, it aims to cut off Americans' access to foreign pirate websites by squeezing intermediaries.

"I am more convinced than ever that forgetting is a needed solution" says Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, as governments and companies take up the issues of digital remembering raised in his award winning book, Delete.

Interviewed with Anke Domscheidt, a German open-data evangelist, Professor Mayer-Schönberger said that whilst we must accept that hackers break laws, we must retain a sense of proportion, reacting with calmness rather than over-aggressive vigilance.

The Economist looks at Internet governance in a report on the 2011 Internet Governance Forum, quoting Viktor Mayer-Schönberger who believes a "constitutional moment" is needed to stop Internet governance becoming the "plaything of powerful nations".

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses digital fakery, and our ability to tell the fake from the real: "The digital age is difficult. We're in a Foucauldian postmodern world where we can't tell the truth from fakery".

The THE leader column discusses the privacy and legal conflicts in preserving information on the web, quoting both Eric Meyer's work on web archiving and the work of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger on the right to delete information.

"In an age when Google knows more about us than we can remember ourselves, forgetting is not a weakness but a valuable capacity allowing us to leave our pasts behind" says Victor Mayer-Schönberger, in an extensive interview in The Guardian.

New software released in Germany allows Internet users to choose an expiry date for online photos. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger welcomes the innovation but says success will depend on several factors. He asks if X-pire is trying to do too much.

German privacy concerns have led to Facebook giving users more control over the use of their private contacts. It's not clear if this only applies to Germany or if much will be changed by the new policy: Viktor Mayer-Shönberger is sceptical.

Coverage of the German edition (BUP) of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger's book 'Delete', which looks at the phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.